How The Educational System Setup Hampers the Girl Child.

‘To educate a man, you educate an individual. To educate a woman, you educate a community’

Picture this scenario: It is the end of the academic year and final year students are busy scribing away. This exam is important because they have all dedicated years and time for this crucial moment which is like that magical key to open the door into their future. The class is silent and one can even hear a pin drop. Suddenly, a loud scream rents the air creating pandemonium. A heavily pregnant lady who was nearing her time but was determined to sit through the exam felt her water broke. Her cry was both pain and dismay. Nevertheless, the exam has to be stopped briefly for her to be rushed to the hospital and that was the end to all her struggles and aspirations for the academic year. This is just a scenario I am trying to paint yet, in does happen. Women have been forced to let go of their dreams and aspirations because of the way the educational system is set up.

As an undergraduate student in the University of Buea Cameroon, I had these words on the onset prominently displayed in my tiny university hostel room. These words served as a daily reminder why it is extremely important to educate the girl child. It also played a great role in helping me appreciate my preferred area of studies – Women and Gender Studies more. Unfortunately, the system set up makes a mockery of these words.

Let me explain what I mean. While I was in form two, one of my classmates was pregnant. At one point towards the mid academic year, she stopped coming to school. It was later discovered she was dismissed from school for being pregnant even though it was rumoured she was married. In form five while we were writing the O’levels, another classmate was pregnant. She wrote some of the subjects but had to drop half way because her water broke while writing. There goes all her plans and efforts at studying for the academic year. While in University, a lady in my department who was a year ahead of me came back to school two days after giving birth to write her exams because, she did not want to repeat the semester.

While most of teen pregnancies which force girls to drop out of school are the results of a curious adventurous spirit gone wrong, most of the ladies pregnant while schooling have unplanned pregnancies. Even among happily married couples, some kids are not always planned. What I am trying to say is that some ladies get pregnant as a result of rape but choose to keep the baby while others were married away young but were determined to fulfill their educational dreams while raising a family. While some may have understanding and supportive spouses, majority usually have to fight hard to keep their heads above board or drop out of school. And while some never give up on their ambitions no matter how long it may take for them to go back to school, some never get around to picking their lives up again.

This is all because the system is not very cooperative with supporting pregnant women who go to school. It is ironic because despite the fact that almost everyone today acknowledges the importance of educating the girl child, they still have to fight for the right to receive an education especially during those delicate months of pregnancy.

In honour of the girl child and the valuable contributions their education brings to their family and community at large, it is imperative to put structures in place which would enable them pursue their goals while at the same time playing their nurturing and child bearing role. A crucial step to achieving this goal is to remember that a woman’s water breaking is not tantamount to her brain getting damaged and dysfunctional. If her water broke during an examination period for example, structures need to be put in place, taking this into consideration so that she can be made to continue her exam on a later date unless maybe, it was a complicated delivery which could prolong her hospital stay to months. But if it happens that she could be up and moving within days, then by all means the authorities have to create an enabling environment to let her continue her exam rather than let all her efforts of the academic year go to waste.

Summarily, I could say the way the educational system is set up hampers and restricts the girl child which in the process stops many from reaching their full potential. To experience the truism of the words quoted above, a fervent wish is to see an enabling and friendly milieu in our schools and higher institutes of learning. This will go a long way to empower the girl child because there will be no need for them to drop out of school during pregnancy; lending credence to the fact that educating a woman is truly educating a community because the benefits an educated woman brings to her community can never be over emphasized.